Archive By Section - Nation

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - A new survey of the nation's college freshmen has found that the percentage attending their first-choice school has reached its lowest level in almost four decades, as cost and the availability of financial aid have come to play an influential role in decisions of where to enroll.

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) - An Arkansas judge has admitted that he posted a series of anonymous online comments that critics say are racist, sexist and otherwise inappropriate, including one in which he revealed alleged details of confidential proceedings involving actress Charlize Theron's adoption of her son.

SAN FRANCISO (AP) - Relief may be on the way for a weather-weary United States with the predicted warming of the central Pacific Ocean brewing this year that will likely change weather worldwide. But it won't be for the better everywhere.

NEW YORK (AP) - Staples has become the second major chain to announce the mass closing of stores this week, providing the latest evidence of how the retail landscape is being remade by shifts in American shopping habits.

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - You're a 16th century German prince plotting to crush a peasant rebellion, or perhaps you're leading an army against the Ottoman Empire or looking to settle the score with a rival nobleman. What's a guy looking for a tactical edge to do?

WASHINGTON (AP) - Warding off the specter of election-year health insurance cancellations, the Obama administration Wednesday announced a two-year extension for individual policies that don't meet requirements of the new health care law.

PARIS (AP) - The United States and Western diplomats failed to bring Russian and Ukrainian foreign ministers together Wednesday for face-to-face talks on the confrontation in Crimea, even as U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry voiced optimism that an exit strategy was possible. "I'd rather be where we are today than where we were yesterday," he said.

OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) - Washington state issued its first legal-marijuana business license Wednesday, launching a new phase in the state's ambitious effort to regulate a market that has been illegal for more than 75 years.

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) - Federal prosecutors say deputies of a North Carolina sheriff accused of illegally targeting Latino drivers shared links to a bloody video game in which players shoot people entering the country illegally, including children and pregnant women.

CHICAGO (AP) - A father, mother and daughter from a posh Chicago suburb stole $7 million in merchandise during a decadelong shoplifting spree - traveling to stores nationwide and targeting dolls, toys, cosmetics and other valuables - according to a federal complaint released Wednesday.

Articles by Section - Nation

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) - Oklahoma could become the first state to use nitrogen gas to execute inmates under a proposal to reinstate a method of execution that hasn't been used in the U.S. in decades but which supporters say would be painless and foolproof.

PITTSBURGH (AP) - A dresser that fell on two toddler sisters, killing them, had been sold without a strap designed to keep it from tipping over, according to a lawsuit filed against the retailer that sold it and the company that manufactured it.

MIAMI (AP) - Drivers at drunken-driving checkpoints don't have to speak to police or even roll down their windows. They just have to place their license and registration on the glass, along with a note saying they have no comment, won't permit a search and want a lawyer. At least, that's the view of a South Florida attorney.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) - An Iowa widow is charged with a crime and had nearly $19,000 seized from her bank after depositing her late husband's legally earned money in a way that evaded federal reporting requirements.

NEW YORK (AP) - A rookie police officer who fired into a darkened stairwell at a Brooklyn public housing complex, accidentally killing a man who had been waiting for an elevator, has been indicted in his death, a lawyer said Tuesday.

NEW YORK (AP) - NBC announced Tuesday that it is suspending Brian Williams as "Nightly News" anchor and managing editor for six months without pay for misleading the public about his experiences covering the Iraq War.

SAN ANTONIO (AP) - A mentally ill teenager killed by police in an East Texas police station last month had gone there believing authorities would hospitalize her and was shot after officers had several opportunities to subdue her, the teen's parents said Monday.

ST. LOUIS (AP) - Federal lawsuits allege that jails in the St. Louis County towns of Ferguson and Jennings operate essentially as modern-day debtors' prisons, where minor traffic offenses can lead to extended periods behind bars.

MONROEVILLE, Pa. (AP) - A teenager who police say opened fire at a Pittsburgh-area mall, shooting his intended target as well as a couple, was arrested early Sunday after police used surveillance footage and an Instagram photo to link the suspect to the shooting.